Metal barge.



J. L. TAYLOR.

METAL BAHGE.

APPLICATION FILED on. 3. 1914.

4 9,99 Patented Dee. 11, 1917.

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X WITNESSES J. L. TAYLOR.

V METAL BARGE. APPLICATION min-001.3} I914.

v Patmited; Dec. 11,1917.

INVENTOR WITNESSES J. L. TAYLDR.

METAL BARGE. APPLICAHON FILED OCT. 3. I914.

Patented Dec. 11, 1917.

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Be it known that l, JOHN ll. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Ualnnont. in the county of Allegheny and Stat of Pennsylvania, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Barges,- of which the following is a specification.

lvly invention relates to the construction of metal barges and similar floating craft used primarily in navigating inland Waters and more particularly relates to freight car rying barges or vessels for package freight .neral mixed cargoes.

.ln such vessels the cargo is carried on top of the deck and a superstructure is built on top of the deck to protect the cargo. With vessels for use on streams having unlimited overhead clearance, little or no difficulty is experienced in constructing a superstructure or cargo house on top of the deck, of sufficient size to house or cover a general mixed cargo or cargo of package freight equal to the total dead load or carrying capacity of hull of the vessel.

i li vessels intended for use on shallow streams, in order to provide a vessel having an economical carrying capacity, it becomes necessary to materially increase the depth of the hull, or else to increase the sizes and Weights of the materials used in constructing the hull, either of which increases the draft oi the vessel. The alternative is to build a vessel having a cargo carrying capacity much below the economical freight or cargo carrying capacity or a vessel of given length and beam.

When the overhead clearances oil a stream are limited, as for example by the low briiilges used in spanning canals and small streams, and where such streams are shallow, so as to limit the draft of the vessel, it becomes more diiiicult and in some cases impossible to construct a vessel having suffi c in cargo storage space on its deck to utiline the toll dead weight or cargo carrying capacity of the vessel, unless the level of the dcclr is dropped or lowered to a point inrzh below the normal. decli: line. In this way a limit is imposed by the shallow stream and overhead clearances on. the economical. size of boats as constructed heretofore.

Une object oil my invcntionis to nrc'vide a metal freight carrying ve ol" novel construction and having imp oved means whereby the cargo or dead Weight carrying capacity of a vessel cit given. length and. beam is very largely increased without in crease in the depth of the bull or the sizes and Weight of the material forming the hull and Without material increase in the Weight of the cargo house.

Another object of my invention is to provide a metal freight carrying vessel. oil" in proved. construction and having novel means whereby the deck is lowered in the hull and the cubical carrying capacity of the vessel is increased Without impairing the longitudinal strength of the barge.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a metal vessel or" improved construc tion, and having novel means whereby the cargo house and hull are combined structurally and the strength of the vessel thereby greatly increased or a vessel of a given size is more economically constructed.

A further object of my invention is to provide a metal vessel having novel means whereby the deck of the cargo house and the load or cargo placed thereon are supported and the cargo carrying space of the vessel is increased, and whereby upward pressure of the Water on unloaded portions of the vessel is transmitted to the sides of the vessel.

Still further objects of the invention consist in the novel constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and specifically p0inted out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a hall lan showing the forward end of a metal arge or vessel constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar half plan showing the other half or after end or the barge.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal elevation till:

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. of the hull showing the outboard profile of the forward end or half of the vessel illustrated in Fi 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the outboard profile of the after end or half of the barge illustrated in Fig. 2.

By joining the lines XX of Figs. 1 and 2 and of Figs. 3 and 4 a complete barge will be illustrated.

Fig. 5 is a typical longitudinal section, the section being taken on the line V-V of Fi 6.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional elevation of the vessel on the irregular line VI-VI of Fig. l or 2, the left hand of this section showing the ordinary framing and the right hand half showing the construction of the transverse wall of the water tight bulkheads.

In the accompanying drawings, the nu meral 2 designates the wing bulkhead and 3 the bottom plating of the hull of a metal barge or vessel constructed and arranged to extend fore and aft in accordance with my invention.

The hull has a middle compartment 4 and is provided on each side with a water tight wing compartment 5 which extends outwardly beyond the plane of the wing bulkhead 2 in the hull and side walls 6 of the superimposed cargo house 7. The deck 8 of each wing compartment is flush with the top of the wing bulkhead 2 of the hull and the main deck 9 is lowered to a considerab e distance below the level of the decks 8.

'hen found desirable or deemed necessary, the wing compartments 5 on the sides .4 may be omitted, so that the outer surface of the sides of the hull will replace the wing bulkheads and will be in the same vertical plane as the side walls or plating 6 of the cargo house 7, such construction being employed at the expense of hull carrying capacity.

As will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, a truss formed of a series of vertical members 11 and diagonal members 12 extends lengthwise between the bow and stern of the vessel at each side of the vessel in the plane of the wing bulkheads 2 and cargolhouse Walls 6. The trusses are of a depth substantially equal to the distance between the vessel bottom 3 and the top '13 of the cargo house, and terminate at the ends of the cargo house and somewhat short of the bow and stern, it not being structurally necessary to extend the trusses to the extreme ends of the vessel.

By reference to Figs. 5 and 6 it will be seen that the cargo house roof 13 is connected to and forms the top chord of the truss system at each side of the vessel and that the bottom plating is likewise connected to and forms the bottom chords of thesetrusses.

The plating 6 forming the sides of the cargo house which is lighter than that forming the wing bulkheads or which may be made of wood, is fastened to the diagonal and vertical members of the trusses and the wing bulkheads 2 separating the wing C0111- partment 5 of the hull 4 are also fastened to the lower ends of the diagonal members 12 and vertical members 11 of the truss system, so that in this way the cargo house 7 and hull 4 of the vessel are structurally combined to form a very strong and rigid structure, with a minimum amount or weight of material and a structure having the maximum amount of cargo carrying space.

The plating forming the wing bulkheads 2 is preferably made of such thickness as to render it unnecessarvto extend the diagonals 12 and vertical stifleners 11 to the bottom chord or bottom plating 3 which forms the bottom chord of the trusses, the wing bulkeads being sufficiently strong to transmit all stresses to the bottom chord. Vertical stiifeners 14 on the outside of the plating 6 and vertical stiffener-s 15 on the wing bulkheads 2 serve to stiffen and strengthen the trusses and enable the thickness of the plating to be reduced.

he truss system is clearly indicated by the dotted lines shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6.

Extending transversely below the deck 9 of the cargo house 7 is a series of transverse lattice'd truss frames 16, the top chord 17 of these transverse frames supporting the cargo house deck 9 and the bottom chord 18 thereof being fastened to the bottom plating 3 of the hull. The top and bottom chords are connected by lattice bracing formed of vertical struts 19 and diagonals 20, and the .ends' of the truss frames 16 are fastened by angles 21 to the wing bulkheads 2.

At suitable intervals in the length of the vessel the latticed transverse frames 16 are replaced by plating 22, so as to form transvcrsally extending water tight bulkheads in the hull below the deck 9 of the cargo house, the plates being substituted for the diagonals 20, and vertical stiffener angles 23 being secured at intervals to the plating 22.

A wooden fender 24 is provided which extends from end to end and around the bow and stern of the vessel near the upper edge of the side plating and forms means for cushioning the vessel in making landings and in striking against other vessels, and a similarly constructed fender along each bilge of the vessel.

The roof of the cargo house is provided with a series of hatches 26 having lGlDOV able covers 27 thereon, the hatchways being positioned between the vertical members 11 of the longitudinal truss system at the sides ofthe cargo house and a series of doors 28 are provided oneach side of the cargo house 25 extends in Figs. 3 and 4 and is which are located in the side walls 6'of the lid intense cargo house, so as to not be obstructed by or to interfere with the diagonal members 12 of the truss system.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. By structurally connecting the cargo house and bull by a truss system which extends length-- wise at and is connected to the wing bulkheads on the sides of the hull and cargo house the longitudinal strength of the vessel. is very largely increased withbut little or no increase in the depth of the bull or in the height of the cargo house above the level of the water. The use of the transverse trusses between the main deck and bottomot the bull to transmit the loads from the cargo house or main declr and the upward pressure on the hull bottom to thawing bulkpr sides of the vessel enables the main or cargo house deck to be lowered tor a material distance below the level of the top of the hull and in this way increases the cubical cargo carrying capacity of the vessel and enables the cargo house to be unequally loaded with a mixed cargo of varying weight per cubic foot of occupied space.

Modifications in the construction or the vessels may be made without departing from my invention as defined in the claims.

The cargo house may be made the full Width of the bull, in which case the truss system will be structurally connected to the outer plating of the hull instead of the plating forming the wing bulkheads 2 separating the wing compartments 5 from the middle comparh ment l of the hull. The plating forming the wing bulkheads may be replaced by lattice bracing. The transverse bulkheads may be omitted and lattice bracing substituted therefor. The cargo house may be sheathed with Wood instead of metal plates as shown,-v in such case the st1ftenl-ng members of the trusses at the sides of the cargo house being made of sulliciently added Strength to care for the stresses set up in the loaded vessels,

and other changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

I. claim:

1. A metal barge or similar vessel havingwardly beyond the sides of the cargo house,

a cargo house declr below the top of thehull w side plating and truss system extending lengthwise at the sides of the hull between the bow and stern of the vessel, said truss system being cl a depth substantially equal to the distance between the hull bottom and cargo house root and having diagonal bracing extending from the cargo house root to a point below the top of the hull.

2. A metal barge or similar vessel comprising a structurally combined cargo house and bull, wing compartments extending outwardly on the hull beyond the sides of the cargo house, the deck of the cargo house being below the deck of the wing compartments, a truss system extending lengthwise at each side of the hull, said truss system being of a depth substantially equal to the combined height of the hull and cargo house" and the diagonal bracing of said truss sys tem extending from the cargo house roof to a point below the level of the upper edge of the sides of the hull and a series of transverse frames extending between the trusses and supporting the cargo house deck.

3. A. metal barge or similar vessel comprising a structurally combined cargo house and hull, bulkheads forming wing compart ments extending outwardly on the hull be yond the sides of the cargo house, the deck of the cargo house being below the deck of the wing compartments, a truss system extending lengthwise at each side of the hull, said truss system being of a depth substantially equal to the combined height of the hull and cargo house and the diagonal bracing of said truss system extending from the cargo house roof to a point below the level of the deck of the wing compartments and a series of transverse frames extending between the trusses and supporting the, cargo house deck, the side plating of the cargo house and of the wing bulkheads being fastened to said trusses.

l. A metal barge or similar vessel comprising a structurally combined cargo house and hull, wing bulkheads forming wing compartments extending outwardly on the hull beyond the sides of the cargo house,the deck of the cargo house being below the deck of thawing compartments, a truss system extending lengthwise at each side of the hull, said truss system being of a depth substantially equal to the combined height of the hull and cargo house and the diagonal bracing of said truss system extending from the cargo house roof to a point below the level of the deck of the'wingcompartments, and a series of transverse frames extending between the trusses and supporting the cargo house deck, the plating forming the sides of the cargo house and the wing bulkheads be ing fastened to said trusses, and the hull bottom being directly secured to the bottom chords of said transverse trusses.

5. A metal barge or similar vessel having a structurally combined cargo. house and bull, a cargo house deck below the top of the hull and a truss system extending lengthwise between the bow and stern of the vessel at the sides of the vessel, said truss system being of a depth substantially equal to the distance between the hull bottom and cargo house root and havmp; diagonal bracing extending from the cargo house roof to a point below the top or" the hull.

6. A metal bargeor similar vessel havmg a structurally combined argo house and hull, a cargo house deck below the top of the below the top of the hull, and a series of hull, and a truss system extending lengthhatches in the top of said cargo house roof. 10 wise between the bow and stern of the vessel In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set at the sides of the vessel, said truss system my hand. being of a depth substantially equal to the JOHN L. TAYLOR. distance between the hull bottom and cargo Witnesses: house roof and having diagonal bracing ex- THOMAS C. POWELL, tending from the cargo house roof to a point W. H. MCKINLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

